D. Dixon Boardman, Partner, Founder, Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Boardman founded Optima Fund Management and is the Managing Member of Optima Group Holdings LLC. Mr. Boardman was one of the early fund-of-funds innovators in the US, having launched Optima’s flagship fund in July 1988. He has built the firm into one of the industry’s most well-respected businesses including funds of funds, single-manager hedge funds and institutional multi-manager programs. Because of his experience and expertise in the hedge fund industry, Mr. Boardman is often quoted in the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as in other financial publications. He appears frequently on CNBC to give his overview on the hedge fund industry. In addition, Mr. Boardman has served as Chairman of the Special Projects Committee of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is currently a member of the President’s Council of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is a Director of Florida Crystals Corporation and an Advisory Board Director of J.C. Bamford Excavators (U.K.). Prior to forming Optima, Mr. Boardman advised high net worth individuals, first as a Senior Vice President at Kidder, Peabody, where he was one of the 20 leading stockbrokers in the firm, and then at UBS PaineWebber, where he was a member of the Chairman’s Council. Mr. Boardman attended McGill University.

Geoffrey M. Lewis, CA (SA), CPA, Partner, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Risk Officer, Chief Compliance Officer

Mr. Lewis joined Optima in 1989.  As Chief Financial Officer, he is responsible for all aspects of operations, finance, taxation, compliance and performance calculation for the firm.  Prior to joining Optima, Mr. Lewis was Senior Audit Manager at Spicer & Oppenheimer (New York).  There he was responsible for supervising audit engagements for hedge fund clients and other commercial entities. Prior to Spicer & Oppenheimer, Mr. Lewis was a Partner at Fisher Hoffman Stride (South Africa) where he specialized in head office audits.  Mr. Lewis earned a Bachelor of Accounting, with distinction, from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mr. Lewis is on the board of trustees of various non-for-profit entities in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Thomas S.T. Gimbel, Partner, Executive Managing Director, Chief Portfolio Risk Officer

Mr. Gimbel is responsible for the single-manager investment business and portfolio risk management. Mr. Gimbel joined Optima in 2004 from Credit Suisse Asset Management where he was Managing Director for Hedge Fund Investments where he originated hedge fund investments and structured fund-of funds offerings. Mr. Gimbel was previously head of the Hedge Fund Department at DLJ. Prior to DLJ, he was Managing Director in Investment Banking at PaineWebber and Chairman of PaineWebber Futures Management Corporation. He assembled that firm's first fund-of-funds in 1994 with Optima as a sub-adviser. His career began in investment banking in 1978. Mr. Gimbel has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of Children's Hospital in Boston, Director of Lighthouse International and a Director of Prime Energy Corporation. He has had a number of articles published in industry publications and has presented at numerous conferences and institutional investor forums.

Christopher J. Heath, Partner, Managing Director

Mr. Heath joined Optima in 1998 after serving as Chairman of Caspian Securities, Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Caspian Securities, Ltd. which he founded in 1995. Previously, he spent nine years as Managing Director and then Chairman of Baring Securities Limited, which he founded in 1984 and built into one of the world’s most successful securities firms before his departure in 1993. He has over 40 years of investment experience including being a partner in the stockbroking firm of Henderson Crosthwaite & Co. and various positions in Imperial Chemical Industries. In addition, Mr. Heath is a Fellow of the Securities Institute. Apart from senior management appointments, Mr. Heath has been active as a business developer in many parts of the world, particularly Japan.

Michael Spelman, Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer

Prior to re-joining Optima in 2012, Mr. Spelman was a Managing Director at Oppenheimer Asset Management for three years where he helped supervise the Alternative Investments Research Department, headed manager selection for the Global Trading sector and provided strategic advice for client asset allocations. Prior to that, from 2005 to 2009, Mr. Spelman was a Senior Director at Optima where he oversaw allocations to Global Macro managers and was Editor of the Quarterly Global Economic Outlook with responsibility for helping craft and communicate the firm’s forward-looking investment themes. During 2004 and 2005, Mr. Spelman was a Vice President in the Alternative Investments Group at Refco where he developed policies, procedures and technology for market risk management of derivatives trading portfolios and oversaw allocations to a suite of commodity trading advisors. From 1999 to 2004, Mr. Spelman was an Associate and risk management analyst for the Quantitative Equities Group at Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for monitoring the investment risk budgeting process and ensuring consistent portfolio construction across client accounts. He covered multiple strategies including Index tracking products, equity market neutral and the equity components of GTAA portfolios. Mr. Spelman began his career in alternative investments as a research analyst at Salomon Smith Barney Managed Futures Trading and earlier, as a statistician at Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder Advisers. Mr. Spelman has been involved in money management since 1995 and holds a B.A. in Asian Studies from Hobart College.